The Youngest Brother
by shimmercat
Summary: Temari and Kankurou used to have a family - before Mama was killed, Father became obsessed, and Uncle Yasha became the youngest brother's guardian. All they have left is the promise of a future in which they will be strong. No pairing.
1. Chapter 0: Birth

Author's note: This fic was started as a Livejournal fic, but I wanted to give it a little more exposure. Please, read and review! It's been a long time since I've written and I'd love any critiques I can get (within reason)! Well then. Onto the fic!

**_Chapter 0 Birth_**

When I was born, they knew I was strong. My father held me up to the light, felt the chakra flowing within me, smiled, and said, "This one will be a fierce fighter."

When my first brother was born, they knew he was strong, as well. My father was pleased. He said again, "This one will be a fierce fighter," and placed my brother with me, so we could learn to be strong together.

When our youngest brother was born, they knew he was beyond strong. As my mother lay dying in the bed blood rushing out of her and into the sand on the floor my father held our youngest brother in his arms and smiled. He said, "You will make the Village of the Sand a force again, Gaara. You are my weapon." The youngest brother was not placed with us; he would learn his power alone.

Kankurou and I were born to be humans. Our youngest brother was born to be a god.


	2. Chapter 1: Mama

Quick Author's Note: Some could argue that I have Temari and Kankurou out of character in these first few chapters. Before I get any reviews about that, I want people to remember the ages I am writing about! A child of three is likely to not even be recognizable as a 14-year-old. As the fic progresses, the characters will become more like the characters you are familiar with.

_**Chapter 1 – Mama**_

I remember very little about Mama, or my life before Gaara was born. We were a real family then, I do know that. Father was a little scary and would make Kankurou cry sometimes; Mama was always kind and smiled a lot and we would go to her when Father was being mean. She would hold both of us on her lap together before her belly got too big.

Once, Kankurou, Mama, Uncle Yasha, and I were traveling with Father to another country on business, and we were attacked by enemy ninjas. I saw my father slice a ninja in two, his top from his bottom. Kankurou and I were scared and watched behind Mama and Uncle Yasha, but the scariest part was when Father returned, covered in blood. I thought he would kill us too, and I tried to run, but Mama caught me and told me that it would be all right. Sometimes, Father had to kill bad ninjas. Sometimes, you have to kill.

Later – it must have been later – Kankurou and I were fighting over who got to sit next to Mama at a meeting, and Father stopped speaking and came down to hush us. He told us that if we didn't hush, he would cut Mama in half so that we could each have a piece, and we couldn't argue anymore. Kankurou knew that Father was angry at him, and started to cry, but he was too young to understand death.

I understood death – at least that it was painful and ugly – and I was terrified. Father would not really cut Mama in half, would he? Wouldn't that kill the baby, too? I let Kankurou sit next to Mama.

One day, a traveler came to the Village of the Sand, with a barrel on his back. I was still young enough then that I was allowed to play, and I was with two other girls near the base of the canyon, scooping sand into big piles and putting sticks on the top. The canyon was one of my favorite places back before Gaara, as it had rocks and sometimes even sticks blown in from far away places, and the shadows of the high walls were cool compared to the baking heat of the village. Plus, I got to see all the travelers come.

This traveler was a big man, and a little scary, but I was the Kazekage's daughter, so I put on my best "tough" face and walked up to him, demanding what he wanted. He smiled, but it looked more like he was baring his teeth. He asked to see the Kazekage, and I puffed out my chest and told him that I was his daughter. "What do ya want with Father, anyway?"

The traveler ignored me and began walking towards the village, visible on this side of the canyon, up the gentle slopes of the dunes. "Hey, wait!" I yelled after him, running to catch up, with the two other girls behind me. He didn't turn around.

"What's in the barrel?" I asked.

"A monster," he grunted.

"You can't take a monster to see my father!" I said, and blocked his path with my arms outstretched.

"Your father asked for this monster, brat. Get out of my way."

I was confused, but I was used to my father doing things I didn't understand, so I just trailed behind him. The girls had disappeared.

The traveler asked for directions to my father's office from one of the villagers, and headed up towards the cliff that towered over the village, where my father's office was hidden. I trailed behind him, hoping that Father would explain everything.

Instead, Father sent me to go find Mama.

I was proud that Father had given me such an important job. But Mama wasn't in our house, or the hospital, where she worked. She wasn't visiting her friends across the way, either. I was starting to worry when I finally found her by the well, talking to an old lady, with Kankurou playing in the dust at her feet. Her belly was very, very big, and she had a cup of water in her hand. I ran up to her and pulled on her belt. "Mama, Father wants to see you!" I was delighted that I'd delivered my news. "A man came with a barrel on his back, and he's gonna show us the monster when you and 'Kurou get there!" Kankurou looked up at the mention of a monster.

My mother's face went white and slack. I figured that she was scared of the idea of seeing a real monster. "Don't worry, Mama, I'll protect you from the barrel-monster!" I said, with great bravado and a bit of a swagger.

Kankurou nodded with a smug grin. "We'll keep you safe!" he said. We each grabbed one of Mama's hands and pulled her in the direction of Father's office.

But when we got there, Father called Uncle Yashamaru and he took us away.

Many years later, Kankurou and I put it all together. That day even more than the day Uzumaki fought our brother shaped the rest of our lives. The rest of many peoples' lives.

That night, I woke up to screaming and yelling. Someone was shouting for medical ninjas, but a piercing, inhuman wail drowned out their voices. Kankurou was awake in the bed next to mine, sitting up, shaking in the darkness. "Is that Mama?" he whispered.

"Maybe she's having the baby!" I said, and jumped out of bed. I'd heard woman screaming while giving birth before, although nothing like this. What I didn't know was that our mother was already dead; she was not making any sound at all, anymore.

I threw open the door but Uncle Yasha was sitting in front of it, making strange noises, crying. He turned his head. "No, you two, get back to bed..." His voice was hoarse; he barely sounded like anyone I knew. He looked away from me. "It has to be this way, she said this was fine..." he mumbled, to himself.

The stone floor was cold on my bare feet, and I started shivering, from fear as much as a chill. I had never seen a grown-up cry before. Uncle Yasha was scaring me.

"'Mari?" Kankurou appeared at my side, holding a little jointed ninja doll Mama had made for him.

"'Mari." Uncle Yashamaru's voice trembled. "Be a good big sister and take care of your brother, okay? Mama is busy tonight, could you sleep in his bed with him?"

I pouted, but I did as I was told, leading Kankurou back to his bed and climbing in after him. The keening wail, so consistent that I almost didn't hear it anymore, suddenly faltered and died.

Kankurou shook until he fell asleep. I realized that I was comforted by his warmth, the shape of his fists still clutching his ninja doll. Still, I didn't sleep for a long time. I kept seeing monsters in the corners of the room, and hearing Uncle Yasha heaving up his pain in the next room.


	3. Chapter 2: Baki

Author's Note: In case anyone is interested, the lj version of this fic is a community called youngestbrother. You can search for it from the front page of seeing as I can't seem to figure out how to post a link in / The lj is updated sooner than the ff.n version, but the updates are generally not edited. As always, comments and critiques are very welcome.

_**Chapter 2 – Baki**_

Uncle Yasha wouldn't let us leave the house. Mama and Father hadn't come to see us in four days. Outside, the voices and laughter had all stopped. Life had come to a standstill. And we were very bored.

Kankurou and I entertained ourselves by playing ninja, tearing around the house, and throwing tantrums. Uncle Yasha, who was a jounin under Father, tried to teach us chakra control, and when that failed, meditation, but teaching a four-year-old to meditate is next to impossible. He sang to us, old songs, children's songs, ninja songs, but that didn't work for long. He cooked us meals, and we were quiet long enough to eat – sometimes. He told us stories of missions he was on, leaving out none of the details. He picked up Kankurou's ninja doll by the head with a ropy line of chakra and made it dance floppily around the table. He sat staring out the window for long periods of time, his hands clenched in white fists.

Kankurou complained that he wanted to see Mama. I told him to hush or I'd cut him in half, and that made him cry. I wanted to see Mama too, even though I was quieter about it. I confronted Yashamaru in the hall.

"Uncle Yasha, when is Mama coming home? When are we going to get to see the baby?" I pouted, my hands on my hips.

My uncle smiled at me. "It should be any day now," he said. "Your Father is just making sure that they are healthy before bringing them home from the hospital."

What I didn't know was that Mama hadn't given birth in the hospital at all. In the hospital, even the Kazekage wouldn't be allowed to do the things my father had done to my mother. Gaara had been born in Father's office.

"I want to go see them. Can we go see them?" I asked, hearing Kankurou's bare feet on the brushed stone floor behind me.

Uncle Yashamaru smiled. "I'll have to go ask your father. Will you two stay here if I go?"

Kankurou nodded, but I wasn't so sure. "Why can't we go with you?" I was suspicious.

"Just because."

I began my temper tantrum then, because usually Mama and Uncle Yasha will give in to a crying child, even if tantrums only ever earned a hard smack from Father.

But this time, Uncle Yasha ignored me and went to get his sandals. "Stay here and be patient like good little ninjas, ok? I may have a treat for you if you do. And remember, I love you both." He bent down and gave each of us a kiss on the forehead before slipping out the door. I heard the scrape and faint clunk that meant he had locked the door from the outside.

Kankurou and I spent the next twenty minutes trying to crawl out the windows, but the attempt was half-hearted, in fear of the beating we'd get if Father learned we had disobeyed Uncle Yasha. We settled down after a bit to play with our chakra and wait.

Kankurou and I learned early to use our chakra. Father didn't give us much choice, really, but we also had talent and strong chakra flows. Kankurou was still too young to pull up much chakra, but he could make a tiny, momentary "spark" at the tip of his index finger, which he liked to use to poke me. I was just starting to learn to fling chakra, so I would spin in circles while letting the centrifugal force tear the chakra off the tips of my fingers. Kankurou and I would play a game where I would spin and he would try to poke me, until I got dizzy and we both collapsed in giggles.

Kankurou grew bored of the game and wandered off to take a nap, and I followed him. Before long we were curled up together and very asleep.

We were woken up two hours later by loud footsteps in the next room, and a rough male voice. "Temari! Kankurou!" Groggily, I stumbled out of bed and went to the arched door of my room. Through the haze of sleep, I vaguely recognized Baki, a jounin friend of my father's. I tottled toward him.

"Whatcha doing here?" I said, rubbing sleep out of my eyes.

"Temari!" he said roughly, and grabbed my arm so hard I squawked in pain and surprise. "Were you napping? We don't have time for naps."

"We have lots of time, waiting for Uncle Yasha to get back."

"Not anymore. The Kazekage has sent me to take you and your brother. Where is he?"

I brightened. "'Kurou's in our room. Are you taking us to see Mama and the new baby?"

"No, I'm not." Baki looked away from me. "Your Mama is dead, Temari. And you are not allowed to see the new baby."

I froze in shock. Mama couldn't be dead. "Mama isn't dead, Baki! That's not a nice joke at all!"

He looked down at the floor. "She is, Temari. I'm not joking. She was buried yesterday outside the village."

"We don't bury people outside the village! We bury them in the graveyard! You just proved that you're lying!" I sobbed. I ran back into the bedroom, and crawled up to Kankurou, hugging him very tightly while he whined at me.

Baki had followed me. He put his hand on my shoulder, gently, and said, "Why don't I take you to my house, Temari. You will live with me from now on, and I'll help you and Kankurou become strong." He muttered something then, something that I didn't understand until I was older: "Maybe if you two are strong, you will survive your youngest brother."

We followed Baki out of the house for the first time in days, coughing in the dust from the road. The sun had set below the cliffs, and the whole village was a deep blue, contrasting the thin band of golden orange sunlight alone the very edge of the eastern cliff. I held one of Baki's hands, and Kankurou held the other. As we stepped into the road, I caught a glimpse of a man in the Kazekage's robes. "Father!" I yelled, and pulled at Baki's hand.

Father stopped and frowned at the three of us, then turned without a word and rounded the corner.

"FATHER!" I yelled again and tugged harder, not sure that he had recognized us. Why wouldn't he come to tell us everything was all right?

I looked up at Baki, who was staring firmly ahead of us, not at his leader. "Your father has asked that you call him Kazekage. He will come to see you when he is ready. And you are not to call me Baki from now on, I am Sensei."

This was the beginning of our new lives, with Baki. This is where Kankurou and I become who we are.

I've wondered before what we would have been like if Mama had lived, if Gaara had been a normal boy, but I can't quite imagine it. I suppose we would have been more like the Leafs – carefree, lazy, happy. But we are not Leafs, we are Sand, and we are hard and miserable. No amount of wondering will change that.


	4. Chapter 3: Chakra

**_Chapter 3 – Chakra _**

There have only been a few things I've felt or done that I've been ashamed of. I am ashamed that Kankurou and I were as weak as we were when Baki-sensei took us in. I am more ashamed that we dealt with his kindness so poorly.

We lived in Baki-sensei's home, on the outskirts of town, near the canyon. Every day, before the sun had completely risen and had a chance to warm the sand, he would wake us and we would begin our training. Our training started out mostly physical. We began the morning by running half a mile – only half a mile! At first, Kankurou and I cried and complained, but Baki would slap us when we did that, and we quickly learned that the running became easier every day, and his slaps became harder.

We would eat a dry breakfast, and then we would begin the morning's lessons. For the first few weeks, we would spar against each other, and whenever one of us would fall we would try hard to keep the tears out of our eyes. Sparring was followed by a simple lunch, often beans and rice with vegetables, and then history and tactics in the afternoon.

Then, on the first morning of the third week, the real lessons began.

We took our dry breakfast and climbed to the top of the canyon, so that we could see the village nestled against the far cliffs below us, and the sun slowly brightening the sky in the east. Then we sat on the hard, cracked rock and Sensei began our lessons.

The first thing Sensei taught us was about chakra. Every living thing has chakra, but only humans can control it, and only ninja can control it at will. He told us that we were born with powerful, abundant chakra, but it would our country no good if we didn't learn to control it.

He taught us that every human has a slightly different type of chakra. Like the stone of the cliffs, the chakra could be different colors, or different shapes. It could be hard as stone, or soft like putty, or fluid like water. He told us that the first thing we must do is discover the shape of our own chakra. And then he shaped his Sword of Wind for us.

The palest golden-green light rushed from Sensei's hand, and as he gripped a fist, the windy light formed a long, thin spike out from his knuckles. He swung it over our heads and our hair was caught and whipped around our faces and into our open mouths.

I wanted to be able to do that! I wanted to make a Sword of Wind, that could cut my enemies in two!

Sensei grinned at our faces. "Do you think you could do that?" he asked.

I nodded, still in awe.

He crouched down to my level. "You are a stupid girl, then, and you are not paying attention. I can do that because my chakra forms a spike from my hands. Do you know what your chakra does?"

I blinked tears out of my eyes and shook my head. "I don't know what shape my chakra makes. Does it matter?"

"Yes, it does. If we know the shape of your chakra, we can pick the perfect weapon for you. With your prefect weapon, you can develop a specialty that no one else has. And with that, you will always have the element of surprise against a new opponent." Sensei prodded me to stand up. "Now, without thinking about it, make chakra."

I scrunched up my eyes and tried as hard as I could to make chakra. I felt a little prickly and itchy, but not very powerful.

I opened my eyes again. "Did I do it?" I asked.

Sensei glared down at me, his arms folded across his chest. "No, you did not. Have you ever made chakra before?"

I thought of Father, telling me to spin. "Does making chakra make you feel... stronger?"

Sensei nodded. "In a way."

I thought for one more moment, then began to spin, my arms flung out wide. I could feel the power collecting on my fingertips, and then I pushed harder against the wind, flinging the power off.

Sensei nodded solemnly. "You will have to learn to do that without all that useless motion, but for now, this is fine. You make crescent chakra. A crescent is a useful shape for offensive chakra, as it is sharp and goes far when you fling it. We should think about what sorts of weapons would be best for flung crescent chakra."

Then he turned to Kankurou, and my brother cringed. He preferred that I take the spotlight in the lessons, and I preferred to do most of the talking, so it usually worked out. But now Kankurou had to show the shape of his chakra.

"Stand up, Kankurou. I want you to make chakra for me, now. We've seen what your sister can do."

Kankurou pushed himself to his feet with a small hand and teetered a little on the balls of his feet, as he sometimes still did when he was uncomfortable while standing. "When Temari spins, I make a spark and poke her," he said, trying to meet Sensei's eyes.

"Well then. Let's see it." Sensei had no pity and no patience.

Kankurou held up one hand palm-down and closed his eyes, breathing hard. A faint violet-blue glimmer appeared at the tip of his index finger, but instead of growing out, the glimmer drooped downwards, like it was melting off his finger. It dropped lower and lower, swaying slightly in the wind, until it stopped about two inches from Kankurou's hand.

"Very good!" Baki looked truly pleased with both of us for the first time since we had gone to live with him, although his face remained grim. "Very, very good! Your chakra isn't stiff, like your sisters, or mine. Flexible chakra has different uses than stiff chakra. It can be much more tactical. Few ninjas are able to summon the control and the stamina to use their flexible chakra effectively. We will wait and see if you are able to meet the challenge."

Kankurou's face fell.

Sensei stood up and brushed off his hands. "I have other things I must attend to this afternoon. Go back to my home and practice molding chakra; if you don't show improvement by tomorrow, we will run twice as far. Our lessons are over for the day."

Kankurou and I met each others' eyes and grinned. We hadn't gotten free time since coming to live with Sensei. "I'm going to beat you down the cliff!" I screamed, and tore down the steep stone stairs. Kankurou followed, but didn't bother to try to catch up.

At the bottom of the canyon, I noticed two of my old playmates drawing pictures with sticks in the sand, and I changed the course of my stampede over to them. I skidded to a stop, accidentally kicking some sand into their drawings.

The two girls took in breath, ready to yell at whoever had been rude enough to ruin their drawings, but their eyes met mine, and they deflated and stared. I heard Kankurou padding up behind me, and felt as his gritty hands grabbed my arm for support. The two girls breathed a little faster.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked, a little puzzled by the way they were acting.

The darker of the girls looked down, so she wouldn't meet my eyes, while the paler continued to stare. Both of them stood up, almost synchronized, and backed away.

"My mama says that your family kills people," said the blonde slowly.

What? Where did this come from?

"My daddy's a chuunin but he's still afraid of your daddy and his baby," breathed the black-haired girl. "You two won't kill us, right?"

I felt Kankurou's grip tighten around my arm, driving the sand and grit on his hands into my skin. "I could kill you if I wanted!" I shouted at the two girls. "I have strong, sharp chakra, and I could kill you if I felt like it!"

Terror flashed in the eyes of the girls, and they stumbled back a few more steps. "We didn't do anything to you!" whimpered the black-haired girl. "We're your friends, remember?"

"We could still kill you if we wanted," Kankurou's voice came from behind me.

The girls fled, panicking.

I turned to look at Kankurou. "What's with them?"

Kankurou's brows furrowed in confusion. "Who's afraid of a _baby_?"


	5. Chapter 4: Baby

_**Chapter 4 – Baby **_

I told Sensei that I wanted to go see Mama and the baby. He told me no.

We were standing outside of Sensei's house, where we had lived the last couple of weeks. A hot breeze was blowing down the canyon. Kankurou had begun to play with some debris off to the side, sticking twigs into the hull of a nut. I put my hands on my hips and told Sensei that we were GOING to go see Mama and the baby.

Sensei sighed. "Your mother is dead, Temari."

"No she is not!" I yelled. "You just don't want us to see her!"

"She is dead, and the Kazekage has threatened to kill you if you go near the baby. You should just forget about it and go back to studying."

"_She is NOT DEAD!_" I screamed, my eyes screwed shut. I whirled and began to run, kicking sand up in Sensei's face. Risking a glance behind me, I saw Kankurou struggle to his feet and try to follow, but Sensei grabbed his arm and my brother yelped in pain. I turned to face the road ahead of me.

The few weeks of exercise had already begun to change me. I ran strong back towards my house, dodging the townsfolk going around their business.

My house came into view from between the other houses as I neared the cliff. I could see the shadow of a person moving inside, a shadow with blonde, shoulder-length hair. "Mama!" I cried out, throwing open the door and running inside. The air inside was very still, hot, and repressive.

The figure turned around slowly. "Mari?" he whispered. "Come here, 'Mari..."

"Uncle Yasha!" I ran up and threw my arms around my uncle, sure that my mother would be right behind him. He dropped to his knees and took me into his arms. "Why didn't you come back? 'Kurou and I have missed you and Mama, and I wanted to see the baby." I buried my face in his shoulder.

"'Mari..." My uncle's arms tightened around me. "You're such a good girl, Temari. And your brother is such a good boy..."

I shoved my way out of the hug and ran over to peak into my parent's old bedroom. "Where's Mama, Uncle Ya-- What's so funny?"

Uncle Yasha hadn't risen from the floor. He was holding his face in his hands, his whole body shaking. I wandered over and grabbed his arms, trying to pull his hands away from his face. I wasn't sure anymore that he was laughing.

He let his hands fall, and I could see the tears, his eyes and mouth twisted with pain. "Uncle Yasha, why are you crying?"

He just shook his head and pulled me towards him, trying to hold me like a doll. I shoved him off and backed away. Mama had to be here somewhere, and she would be able to explain. I ran over to the doorway of my old room and peaked inside.

"NO!" howled Yashamaru, and he threw himself at me, pulling me back. He grabbed my chin roughly and made me look at his face. "Temari, you are not to go in there. You are never, ever to go in that room again. I can't lose you too." He held me so tight I couldn't get away and sobbed some more into my shirt.

I craned my neck, trying to see what was inside that room. Around the corner of the door, I could see one leg of Kankurou's old ninja doll lying on the swept stone floor, forgotten on the day that Sensei came to the house. A little brushing of sand next to the doll moved slightly, like in a soft breeze.

Uncle Yasha picked me up and carried me outside, shutting the door and locking it carefully behind him. He set me on the flat rock we used as a doorstep and knelt to meet my eyes.

"Temari, I'm going to tell you something very important. Do you think you can listen?" Scared by Uncle Yasha's change in behavior, I nodded, eyes wide. "'Mari, your Mama is dead. She was killed by your new brother, and your father let him kill her. The baby –"

"Mama is NOT DEAD," I interrupted, glaring into Uncle Yasha's blue eyes.

He put his hand over his face and took a deep, ragged breath. "Temari, please, your life depends on believing me. Everything you've known up until now has been a lie. Our family has been a lie. Your father is a bad man, and he will hurt you and 'Kurou if you don't believe me. YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD." I had never heard Uncle Yashamaru speak so seriously before. Uncle Yasha was supposed to be a happy, laughing man, not this hard and sober person in front of me. "My sister – my sister is dead, and she was killed by your youngest brother. He has a monster inside of him, and that monster could kill you or 'Kurou if you make it mad. Do you understand me?"

Wide-eyed, I nodded. I could feel tears forming in my eyes, stinging at the corners. I wanted Mama very, very badly. I wanted her to hold me and tell me that everything would be all right.

But Uncle Yasha continued. "You need to stay away from this house. Stay with Baki, and keep Kankurou away from here as well. You two need to become the best ninjas you can, and Baki can help you do that. You are NOT to come and see me again, Temari."

"What if the baby kills you too?" I asked, feeling the shattering of everything I had loved.

"The baby won't kill me. The Kazekage has ordered that I take care of him; maybe learn to control him. He's using us, 'Mari, both me and the baby. He put the monster in the baby. Your father is an evil man." Yasha took a trembling breath. "Do not trust you father! And don't come back here. Please, Temari. For me."

I hugged myself and looked down at my feet. The sand had blown up over the step and was slowly covering my toes. I concentrated on the sand, not knowing what else to think about.

"Go back to Baki, my niece. He will take care of you, and teach you to survive. That's all we can do anymore, survive." My Uncle Yashamaru, whom I had loved, unlocked the door and slipped inside my old house. He gave me a grim smile, then shut the door. I heard the click of a lock.

I stared at the unmoving door for a long time, listening to the faint sounds of Uncle Yasha sobbing inside of it. The denial was being to dissolve. If Mama was not dead, then where was she? Why hadn't she come to see us? Why would Uncle Yasha leave us like this if what he said wasn't true?

I crouched on the step until I couldn't cry anymore. The salt from my tears had filled my throat until it was too rough to breath, and then I fell asleep against the door as the sun hit the top of the sky.


End file.
